


Shan'hal'lak (Love at First Sight)

by EntreNous



Series: Only Glimpses: Spirk Ficlets [5]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: First Contact, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Love at First Sight, M/M, Pre-Reform Vulcan, Stand Alone, Vulcan Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 06:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8046436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EntreNous/pseuds/EntreNous
Summary: Earth Coalition space captain Jim Kirk makes an entirely unexpected first contact with Spock of Vulcan (First Contact AU/Pre-Reform Vulcan AU).





	Shan'hal'lak (Love at First Sight)

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is especially for [Janey-Jane](http://janey-jane.tumblr.com/) (since I know pre-reform Spock is your jam) on this Kirk/Spock Day! All Vulcan phrases are from the VLD; a list with pertinent definitions follows the ficlet.

The first thing Jim sees when he regains consciousness is a curtain of darkness.

"Great," he mutters. It's bad enough that his instruments went wonky and took his Earth Coalition vessel so far off course that he has no idea what planet he might have crashed on. With his luck, it's probably uninhabited, or populated by some scary man-eating space apes. Wherever he is, if he can't see anything, he's totally fucked. 

The curtain moves, and suddenly he can spot beams of light creeping in. He's so grateful that he makes a small whimpering sound. 

" _Nam'uh hizhuk. La masu_ ," a voice says softly. 

At the unknown words, a wave of panic surges through him. He immediately tries to scramble to his feet. But his body won't cooperate, and he doesn't get much further than half-raising himself on his elbows. Soon enough he falls back with a pathetic thud. 

He has to pant for a little while to clear his head. Finally, with a great effort, he looks to the side to find out what the hell is happening.

Through a blurry squint, he can just make out that there's someone kneeling close to him. It's a man with long straight black hair, wearing gold ornaments on his pointy ears that glint in the haze of light behind his head. 

Jim opens his mouth to say something, but the wrongness of what he's seeing makes his head ache. The guy's humanoid, yes, but the pointy ears, slanted eyebrows, and the green cast to the man's skin mark him as something entirely unknown.

It could be that Jim's just dreamed up the crazy appearance. He has no memory of what happened since he crashed, no clue how much time has passed. Odds are solid he's got a serious head injury and he's fantasizing all of this. After all, he can't remember a single thing after trying to communicate a mayday to his Coalition commodore. 

Frowning, he reaches out a trembling hand. If he can touch the guy, maybe he can convince himself this situation isn't something his subconscious is tossing out at him for fun and games. But the man sits back, eluding him. 

"So did I make you up?" Jim murmurs. His eyes feel so heavy, and he closes them again. His fingers twitch, scratching through sand. "I'm probably alone on some heap of rocks, back broken, delirious, and about to buy the farm. Why I'd dream you up, though, I can't figure out."

Then there's something at his lips. Water. As the man helps him raise his head, anchoring his neck behind his hazard suit's collar, Jim sips cautiously at first, but soon he starts to gulp. The water's warm and tastes like some unknown mineral, but at the moment it's the best thing he's ever had. 

"Hey," he protests weakly when the hand cradling his neck lowers him down again and the alien man takes the cup away.

The man speaks again. Jim can't catch all the words, but he thinks he hears something like _khreya_ and soon after, _ek'manek_.

It's the least appropriate reaction ever, but then again the Coalition brass has always thought that Jim's half nuts; even Pike, for all that he gruffly tolerates Jim, calls him a "complete jackass" on good days. But Jim just can't help it -- he's stranded, shipwrecked, injured, basically screwed every which way -- he laughs and laughs like this is the most hilarious thing ever. He's got to struggle to finally calm himself down, and even then he can't keep from smiling like a loon.

All around him is stillness; for a moment he imagines he's passed out again.

Then there's contact. At his lips, a finger traces the upward curve of his grin.

At that, Jim manages to open his eyes, and then everything comes into focus: the elaborate black pattern on the grey robe the man wears; the intricate detailing on the gold cuff adorning his pointed ear; his strong handsome features; the gleam of his long dark hair. The man gazes at him intently; when he sees Jim looking back, his own eyes widen a little. 

" _Vaksurik_ ," his rescuer says gruffly. Even though he had dodged when Jim reached out to him moments before, now he can't seem to stop touching Jim's face, almost like a caress.

"Okay," Jim says cautiously. Maybe that word means his brains are spilling out his ears, or it's a nice way of telling him the crash rearranged his features in some gory mask. But then the man tilts his head to the side, and he cups Jim's jaw reverently. 

"Spock," the man tells him.

Jim huffs, because he's this close to laughing hysterically again. "You get that I have no idea what you're saying, right?"

The man points to himself with his free hand. "Spock," he repeats insistently.

"Oh! Right! Spock," Jim adds hastily when his new friend seems about to repeat his name again. "Jim," he offers in return, feeling exhaustion seep into him once more. "I'm Jim."

This time when he closes his eyes, Jim focuses on how Spock lowers him down with great care and softly brushes the hair from Jim's forehead. 

"Jim," Spock says in a low voice. "Jim, _t'nash-veh_."

***~*~* the end *~*~***

**Author's Note:**

>  __ **Shan'hal'lak:** love at first sight; emotional engulfment  
>  **Nam'uh hizhuk. La masu:** be quiet. drink this.  
>  **Khreya:** trauma; a serious injury or shock to the body, as from violence or an accident  
>  **Ek'manek:** the condition of being safe; freedom from danger, risk, or injury  
>  **Vaksurik:** beautiful; having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight  
>  **T'nash-veh:** mine; belonging to me
> 
> _All definitions gathered from the[VLD](http://www.starbase-10.de/vld/); any errors using the words and phrases are mine._


End file.
